c 

A-m4  D-^ 


SENATE....  ....No.  37. 


REPORT 


PETITION    OF    THE   TRUSTEES 


AMHERST   COLLEGE. 


c 

f\rr 


To  the  Honorable  Senate,  and  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  in  Gene- 
ral Court  assembled : 

The  Petition  of  the  Trustees  of  Amherst  College  respect- 
fully represents : 

That  the  collegiate  institution  which  was  established 
at  Amherst  in  1821,  was  incorporated  as  a  college  in 
1825,  with  about  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  students: 
that,  since  that  time,  the  number  has  greatly  increased  : 
that,  with  this  increase  in  the  number  of  students,  the 
demand  for  buildings  for  their  accommodation,  for  addi- 
tional instructers,  for  additions  to  the  library,  and  appara- 
tus in  the  various  departments,  has  proportionally  in- 
creased : 

That  the  wants  of  the  college  have  hitherto  been  met 
<J        by  appeals  to  the  liberality  of  the  benevolent  public;  and 
the  friends  of  the  college  have  been  repeatedly  called  up- 
ji        on  to  contribute  to  its  necessities  : 

That  additional   means,  to  a  considerable  amount,  are 
now  indispensibly  necessary  to  enable  your  petitioners  to 
v^         erect  another  college^building ;  to  supply  deficiencies  in 
the  library  ;  to  render  the  various  apparatus  more  perfect, 
and  for  other  purposes. 
%"  Your  petitioners  further  represent,  that  they  have  be- 

fore made  application  to  the  Legislature  for  pecuniary 
aid,  but  were  refused  it,  on  grounds  which  then  were  sat- 
isfactory to  the  majority  ;  and  they  have  never  received 
any  aid  whatever  from  the  State  treasury. 


4  AMHERST  COLLEGE.  Jan 

x\nd  in  renewing  their  application  for  this  purpose,  they 
rely  on  the  disposition  of  the  General  Court  to  regard 
that  provision  of  our  State  constitution,  which  makes  it 
the  "duty  of  legislatures,  in  all  future  periods  of  the 
Commonwealth,  to  cherish  the  institutions  of  literature 
and  the  sciences,  and  all  seminaries  of  them,5' — that 
they  will  carry  out  the  principle  which  has  induced  for- 
mer Legislatures  to  make  munificent  donations  to  the 
University  which  has  ever  been  the  object  of  State  pa- 
tronage, and  the  honor  of  the  Commonwealth — which 
has  induced  them  to  make  liberal  grants  to  the  funds  of 
Williams  College,  and  to  Bowdoin  College,  while  Maine 
was  a  part  of  this  State — and  to  make  endowments  to 
almost  every  incorporated  academy  within  the  Common- 
wealth. 

The  Legislature  have  reserved  to  themselves,  by  the 
act  incorporating  the  college,  li  the  right  to  alter,  limit, 
annul  or  restrain"  the  powers  vested,  by  the  act,  in  the 
trustees — the  right  to  appoint,  and  forever  have  the  re- 
appointment, as  vacancies  in  the  number  shall  occur,  of 
five  out  of  seventeen  of  the  said  trustees — to  appoint  vis- 
iters of  the  college,  and  retained  in  their  own  hands  a 
controlling  power  over  the  acts  of  the  trustees. 

The  annual  increase  in  the  number  of  students,  while 
the  numbers  at  all  the  other  New  England  colleges  also 
increase,  renders  it  manifest  that  a  college  was  needed, 
in  the  portion  of  the  Commonwealth  in  which  this  is  sit- 
uated, and  that  it  must  be  sustained. 

And  the  petitioners  respectfully  urge,  that  its  wants, 
its  respectable  standing  among  the  other  New  England 
colleges,  taken  in  connection  with  the  ample  resources  of 
the  treasury,  entitle  them  to  the  favorable  consideration 
of  the  Legislature  ;  and  that  it  is  but  equal  justice,  that 


1837.  SENATE— No.  37.  5 

the  college  which  has  hitherto  sustained  itself,  while  it  is 
placed  by  its  charter  peculiarly  within  the  control  of  the 
government,  should  share  with  other  kindred  institutions 
in  the  bounty  which  all  others  have  received  at  its  hands. 

Wherefore  the  petitioners  earnestly  ask  that  you  will 
grant  them  such  pecuniary  aid  as  their  necessities  de- 
mand, and  the  state  of  the  treasury  enables  you  to  give. 

And  as  in  duty  bound  will  ever  pray. 

In  behalf  of  the  Trustees. 

HEM  AN  HUMPHREY,  President. 
Amherst,  January  2,  1837. 


©ommoutoealtfj  of  j&agsatjjttsetts* 


Ln  Senate,  Jan.  30,  1837. 

The  Joint  Special  Committee,  to  whom  was  committed 
the  Petition  of  the  Trustees  of  Amherst  College  for 
pecuniary  aid,  having  heard  the  petitioners,  and  duly 
considered  the  matter  referred, 

REPORT, 

That  this  flourishing  institution  commenced  the  busi- 
ness of  instruction,  under  the  name  of  the  Amherst  Col- 
legiate Institute,  in  1821,  with  fifty-six  students.  Seve- 
ral applications  were  made  to  the  Legislature  by  its 
friends  and  patrons,  for  an  act  of  incorporation,  until 
1825,  when  their  request  was  granted.  From  that  time 
to  the  present,  Amherst  College  has  steadily  advanced 
in  usefulness,  respectability,  and  public  estimation,  satis- 
factorily refuting  the  objections  of  its  opponents,  increas- 
ing the  attachment  of  its  friends,  and  multiplying  its 
claims  to  public  favor  and  patronage.  It  has  literally 
grown  up,  and  attained  its  present  high  character, 
"  through  much  tribulation."  Assailed  in  its  infancy 
by  every  variety  of  opposition,  from  manly  argument  to 
vulgar  abuse,  it  survived  these  rude  and  repeated  assaults, 
gaining  new  strength  from  fresh  opposition.  Its  history 
demonstrates,  conclusively,  the  fitness  of  its  location,  and 


1837.  SENATE— No.  37.  7 

the  necessity  of  its  existence.  Situated  in  a  pleasant 
and  healthy  village,  in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut, 
easy  of  access,  remote  from  vicious  temptations  and  cor- 
rupting examples,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  sober,  industri- 
ous, and  intelligent  population,  its  founders  might  well 
suppose,  that  it  would  receive  a  full  share  of  patronage. 
Its  success,  however,  has  exceeded  the  expectations  of 
its  most  sanguine  friends,  and  astonished  its  honest  ad- 
versaries. The  bare  statement  of  the  numbers  of  stu- 
dents, who  have  resorted  to  this  seminary,  while  our  oth- 
er colleges  have  also  increased  in  numbers,  proves  that 
the  public  good  required  its  institution.  It,  also,  demon- 
strates the  singular  propriety  of  its  location,  its  impor- 
tance as  a  means  of  education,  and  the  judicious  man- 
agement of  its  faculty  and  trustees.  The  number  of 
students,  borne  upon  its  catalogues,  since  its  incorpora- 
tion, is,  annually,  as  follows.  In  1825,  136  ;  in  '26,  152  ; 
in  '27,  170 ;  in  '28,  209  ;  '29,  211  ;  in  '30,  188  ;  in  '81, 
195 ;  in  '32,  237  ;  in  '33,  239  ;  in  '34,  243  ;  in  '35,  252 ; 
and  in  '36,  259.  This  steady  increase  in  numbers,  your 
Committee  consider  good  evidence  of  a  well  earned  pop- 
ularity, as  well  as,  of  extensive  usefulness.  Accidental 
causes  may  swell  the  numbers  of  a  literary  institution 
during  their  continuance,  but  a  regular  and  uniform  in- 
crease for  a  term  of  years,  denotes  the  operation  of  a 
permanent  and  well  founded  influence,  independent  of 
contingencies.  Patronage  is  not  likely  to  be  extended  to 
any  public  institution,  thus  regularly  and  generously,  un- 
less it  have  distinguished  merit.  A  discerning  public 
cannot  be  long  imposed  upon  by  specious  appearances, 
and  wherever  we  find  an  institution  of  learning,  liberal- 
ly patronised,  for  a  series  of  years,  by  all  classes  of  citi- 
zens, it  is  fair  to  presume  that  this  patronage  is  not  un- 


8  AMHERST  COLLEGE.  Jan 

deserved.  Your  Committee,  therefore,  are  happy  in  the 
belief,  that  the  Legislature  will  not  hesitate  to  add  to  its 
means  of  promoting  the  public  good,  through  fear  of  a  mis- 
application, or  perversion,  or  inefficacy  of  its  bounty* 

The  trustees,  by  the  aid  of  private  benefactions  alone, 
have  be  enenabled  to  construct  three  commodious  college 
buildings,  and  a  chapel  for  public  worship,  recitation  and 
lecture  rooms,  &c.  at  a  cost  of  about  40,000  dollars. 
They  have  procured  a  well  selected  library  of  about  six 
thousand  volumes,  a  very  complete  philosophical  appara- 
tus, a  respectable  chemical  laboratory,  and  a  valuable 
cabinet  of  minerals  and  curiosities.  Their  present  build- 
ings will  accommodate  180  students,  and  they  are  in 
want  of  another  building,  corresponding  wTith  the  rest  in 
its  architecture,  to  accommodate  sixty  more,  who  are  now 
compelled  to  seek  lodgings  in  the  village.  The  trustees 
are  greatly  desirous  of  obviating  this  difficulty.  They 
consider  it  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  their  present 
standing.  Students,  who  cannot  obtain  rooms  in  the 
college  buildings,  seek  them  elsewhere,  to  the  manifest 
detriment  of  college  discipline,  and  their  own  proficiency. 
Instances  have  occurred,  where  applicants  could  not  ob- 
tain the  necessary  accommodations,  and  have  gone  to 
other  colleges  in  consequence  of  this  defect.  It  is  indis- 
pensible  to  the  best  good  of  the  students,  as  well  as  to 
the  reputation  of  the  college,  and  the  correct  administra- 
tion of  its  affairs,  that  all  its  inmates  should  reside  under 
the  immediate  care  and  oversight  of  the  faculty.  Saluta- 
ry restraints  and  checks  cannot  be  otherwise  imposed, 
and  wholesome  and  proper  discipline  enforced. 

The  students  having  increased  from  136  to  259,  in  the 
short  term  of  ten  years,  the  faculty  and  board  of  instruc- 
tion have,  from  necessity,  been  proportionally  increased. 


1837.  SENATE— No.  37.  9 

A  president,  two  professors  and  two  tutors  composed  the 
first  faculty.  The  present  board  consists  of  a  president* 
five  professors,  and  four  tutors,  together  with  a  lecturer 
on  anatomy  and  physiology,  and  a  lecturer  on  political 
economy.  The  necessary  expenses  of  the  institution  for 
the  few  first  years  of  its  existence,  were  about  thirty-five 
hundred  dollars  annually,  and  now  they  exceed  thrice  that 
sum.  The  term  bills  are  found  to  be  inadequate  to  meet 
the  current  expenditures.  There  is  always  some  loss, 
and  much  delay  in  collecting  these  bills,  and,  was  the 
whole  sum  realized,  it  would  be  insufficient.  This  state 
of  facts  is  not  peculiar  to  this  institution.  It  is  believed 
that  no  one  of  our  colleges  can  be  supported  by  its  term 
bills  alone.  A  letter  from  the  treasurer  of  Yale  College 
was  read  to  your  Committee,  which  stated  that  the  term 
bills  of  that  ancient,  economical  and  numerously  attended 
institution  fell  far  short  of  its  ordinary  expenses.  The 
salaries  of  the  officers  of  Yale  College  do  not  greatly  ex- 
ceed, in  the  aggregate,  those  of  Amherst,  while  the  num- 
ber of  students  is  about  one  third  greater,  and  the  term 
bills  somewhat  higher.  Your  Committee  are,  therefore, 
satisfied  that  the  college  cannot  be  sustained  in  its  present 
highly  flourishing  condition,  and  made  to  keep  pace  with 
the  march  of  improvement,  and  the  growing  w7ants  of  the 
community,  without  foreign  aid. 

From  what  source  shall  this  necessary  aid  be  derived  ? 
Private  contributions  have  made  this  college  what  it  now 
is.  Individual  enterprise  and  liberality  have  laid  its  foun- 
dations, and  reared  its  structures,  and  taught  it  to  shed 
blessings  on  the  Commonwealth,  and  shall  it  be  crippled 
in  its  efforts,  and  circumscribed  in  its  operations,  for  the 
want  of  a  few  thousand  dollars  from  a  rich  and  often  re- 
plenished treasury  ?  Shall  a  narrow  minded  policy  shut 
2 


10  AMHERST  COLLEGE.  Jan 

the  door  upon  their  reasonable  request?  Benevolent  cit- 
izens throughout  the  Commonwealth  have  contributed 
largely  and  frequently  to  its  support,  and  they  now  be- 
lieve it  entitled  to  legislative  bounty.  They  see  the 
Legislature  annually  appropriating  large  sums  in  aid  of 
education,  at  which  they  rejoice.  The  deaf  are  made  to 
hear,  the  dumb  to  speak,  and  the  blind  to  see,  through 
the  aids  of  the  public  treasury.  The  earth  discloses  her 
secrets,  the  mines  unlock  their  treasures,  topography, 
mineralogy  and  geology  are  illustrated,  and  enriched  by 
legislative  grants.  All  this  the  friends  of  this  college  hail 
as  an  auspicious  omen.  Our  other  seminaries  of  learning 
have  severally  received  liberal  donations  from  the  Com- 
monwealth's treasury,  and  why  should  not  this,  which 
has  outstripped  them  all  in  the  rapidity  of  its  progress, 
meet  with  the  like  favor,  not  to  say,  justice  ?  Harvard 
University,  even  from  the  days  of  the  pilgrims,  has  been 
the  favorite  and  richly  endowed  daughter  of  the  State. 
Williams,  and  Bowdoin  Colleges  have  received  generous 
appropriations  of  the  public  money,  and  their  increased 
usefulness  attests  both  the  wisdom  and  policy  of  such 
munificence.  Every  incorporated  academy  in  the  Com- 
monwealth has  received  something  at  the  hands  of  the 
Legislature.  Shall  Amherst  College,  of  all  our  literary 
institutions,  remain  unendowed,  and  neglected  by  the 
constitutional  guardians  of  the  common  weal?  This,  too, 
when  she  has  forced  her  way,  by  her  own  unassisted  ef- 
forts, to  an  acknowledged  equality  with  the  best  and  most 
highly  favored  institutions  of  the  land?  Your  Committee 
are  exceedingly  unwilling  to  adopt  such  a  conclusion,  and 
they  cannot  persuade  themselves  that  such  a  conclusion 
would  comport  with  the  honorable  views  of  a  high  mind- 


1 837.  SENATE— No.  37.  1 1 

ed  Legislature,  or  be  required  by  the  condition  of  our 
finances. 

The  circumstances  of  the  case,  seem  to  your  Commit- 
tee, to  impose  an  obligation  upon  the  representatives  of 
the  people  to  foster  this  institution.  In  its  act  of  incor- 
poration, the  Legislature  reserve  the  right  to  control  it, 
and,  also,  to  choose  five  out  of  seventeen  trustees,  and 
supply  the  vancancies  of  these  five,  as  often  as  they  shall 
occur,  forever.  This  seems  to  us  an  undertaking  on  the 
part  of  the  Legislature  to  superintend  its  operations,  to 
watch  over  its  usefulness,  and  add  to  its  means  of  doing 
good.  Is  not  this  college  authorized,  since  its  formal 
and  guarded  adoption  into  the  family  of  literary  institu- 
tions, to  demand  at  the  hands  of  their  common  parent, 
an  equal  share  of  the  joint  inheritance,  or  a  just  propor- 
tion of  the  family  funds  ? 

The  honor,  as  well  as  the  interest  of  the  Common- 
wealth requires  that  this  institution  should  be  sustained. 
During  the  three  past  years,  it  has  had  a  larger  number 
of  students,  than  either  of  our  other  colleges.  The  sons 
of  the  farmer,  the  mechanic,  and  the  man  of  moderate 
means,  resort  hither,  to  acquire  at  a  comparatively  small 
cost,  the  qualifications  for  future  usefulness.  And  shall 
these  classes  of  the  community,  which  compose  the  bone 
and  sinew  of  a  republic,  be  forbidden  to  drink  of  the  wells 
of  science,  for  the  want  of  pecuniary  means  ?  In  what 
other  way  can  the  State  employ  its  bounty  more  effectu- 
ally, than  in  facilitating  the  education  of  young  men  from 
the  middle  classes,  whom  yet  luxury  hath  not  tainted, 
nor  idleness  rendered  mischievous,  and  sloth  effeminate  ? 

Before  the  establishment  of  this  institution,  great 
numbers  of  young  men  went  out  of  the  Commonwealth 
to  obtain  an  education,      (n   1824  there  were  in  the  sev- 


12  AMHERST  COLLEGE.  Jan 

eral  New  England  colleges,  out  of  this  State,  227  schol- 
ars belonging  to  Massachusetts.  In  1830,  the  number 
had  been  reduced  to  135.  At  the  former  period,  there 
were  fifty-eight  more  went  out  of  the  State  than  came 
into  it,  for  the  purposes  of  education ;  and  at  the  latter, 
fourteen  more  came  in  than  went  out.  This  institution 
has  been  the  chief  instrument  in  producing  these  results, 
and  is,  therefore,  entitled  to  some  consideration. 

Massachusetts  is  pre-eminent  among  her  sister  States 
for  her  munificent  bequests  to  literary  institutions.  The 
amount  appropriated  to  these  objects,  as  appears  from  sun- 
dry documents  shown  to  your  Committee,  is,  in  round 
numbers,  as  follows,  viz :  To  Harvard  University, 
#300,000;  to  Williams  College,  #56,000;  to  Bowdoin 
College,  #70,000;  to  academies,  #630,000;  to  other 
institutions,  #12,000;  to  common  schools,  #1,000,000: 
making,  in  all,  the  generous  sum  of  #2,070,000.  Am- 
herst College,  with  its  high  claims  to  legislative  bounty, 
and  its  abundant  evidence  of  eminent  usefulness,  stands 
alone  in  solitary  destitution.  Not  a  single  mark  of  gov- 
ernmental favor  can  she  exhibit,  nor  a  single  token  of 
paternal  approbation.  While  every  other  member  of  the 
family  has  received  largely  of  the  common  stock,  she 
alone  has  been  turned  empty-handed  away,  and  compelled 
to  sustain  herself  on  her  own  scantv  resources.  Shall 
this  be  said  of  her  longer  ?  Will  the  honor  of  the  Com- 
monwealth permit  it?  Shall  this  youngest  and  most 
enterprising  of  our  literary  institutions  be  again  turned 
over  to  the  sympathies  of  a  generous  public  for  relief? 
Let  the  Representatives  of  the  people  answer.  Let  the 
descendants  of  the  pilgrims,  who,  wrhile  yet  the  war- 
whoop  roused  them  from  the  slumbers  of  midnight,  and 
the   hostile    tomahawk    glittered    in   the   blaze  of   their 


1837.  SENATE— No.  37.  13 

dwellings,  made  liberal  appropriations  of  their  scanty  re- 
sources to  the  endowment  of  literary  institutions,  say, 
whether  this  stain  shall  longer  disfigure  the  bright  es- 
cutcheon of  this  ancient  Commonwealth. 

This  college  is  of  great  service  to  the  surrounding 
country,  inasmuch  as  it  furnished  from  100  to  150  teach- 
ers of  common  schools  during  "the  winter.  Their  qualifi- 
cations for  this  important  service  would  be  increased,  by 
giving  to  the  college  additional  means  of  instruction.  To 
those,  who  cherish  a  just  sense  of  the  importance  of  well 
qualified  instructers  of  common  schools,  this  is  no  mean 
argument. 

The  property  of  the  corporation,  as  nearly  as  it  can  be 
ascertained,  is  as  follows,  viz : 

Three  college  buildings  and  a  chapel,  $40,000 

President's  house,  5,000 

Library,  philosophical  apparatus,  &c.  10,000 

Certain  lands  and  promissory  notes,  about  10,000 


$65,000 
The  trustees  are  indebted  about  $10,000.  Since  their 
last  application  for  assistance,  they  have  extinguished  a 
debt,  under  which  they  were  then  laboring,  of  over 
$35,000,  by  an  appeal  to  the  sympathies  of  an  enlight- 
ened and  christian  public. 

There  is  a  fund,  estimated  at  $39,850,  contributed  on 
condition  that  five  sixths  of  the  interest  should  be  applied 
to  the  education  of  indigent  young  men  for  the  gospel 
ministry.  The  other  sixth  of  interest  is  to  be  annually 
added  to  the  principal.  No  part  of  this  fund  can  be  ap- 
plied to  ordinary  and  general  purposes. 

The  present  expenses  of  the  college  are  as  follows,  viz: 


14  AMHERST  COLLEGE.  Jan 


President's  salary, 

#1,200 

Five  professors, 

4,800 

Four  tutors, 

2,000 

Treasurer, 

300 

Chapel  service, 

250 

Laboratory  and  philosophical  apparatus, 

200 

Inspector, 

180 

Fuel,  lights,  &c. 

250 

Repairs, 

300 

Insurance, 

140 

Other  expenses, 

140 

$10,000 
The  present  annual  income  of  the  institution  is,  nearly, 
as  follows,  viz : 

Tuition  of  225  students,  at  $32,  is  $8,775 

Rent  of  90  rooms,  at  $18,  1,620 

Rent  for  land,  150 


$10,545 
The  more  immediate  wants  of  the  corporation,  to  sup- 
ply necessary  accommodations  to   the  increasing  number 
of  students,  and  to  give  wider  scope  and  greater  efficiency 
to  its  circle  of  instruction,  seem  to  be  as  follows,  viz  : 

A  college   edifice  like  the  others,  estimated  to 
cost  $13,000 

For  additions  to  library  and  apparatus,  10,000 
General  repairs  and  improvement  of  col- 
lege grounds,  3,000 
To  pay  debts,  10,000 
As  a  contingent  fund,  14,000 
To  endow  two  professorships,                  30,000 

$80,000 


1837.  SENATE— No.  37.  15 

The  necessary  annual  expense  of  a  student  at  this  col- 
lege, is  from  $  100  to  120. 

Your  Committee,  feeling  deeply  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  this  subject,  cannot  forbear  to  urge  upon 
the  attention  of  the  Legislature  a  general  remark  or  two, 
which  seem  to  them  of  paramount  importance. 

There  is  an  intimate  connexion  between  colleges,  acad- 
emies and  common  schools.  Academies  and  schools  are 
dependant  upon  colleges  for  their  instructers,  and  unless 
they  be  kept  in  a  healthy  condition,  the  lesser  institutions 
must  necessarily  participate  in  their  declension.  It  is  a 
mistaken  and  most  mischievous  notion,  that  primary 
schools  can  exist  in  their  most  perfect  state,  independent- 
ly of  higher  seminaries  of  learning.  Colleges  are  the 
life  blood  of  all  our  literary  institutions,  and  it  must  be 
propelled  through  the  greater  and  lesser  arteries  of  the 
system,  to  give  them  a  healthy  and  vigorous  action.  In- 
crease the  force  of  the  propelling  power,  and  you  will 
increase  the  volume  propelled,  and  add  strength  and  vital- 
ity to  the  current  of  circulation.  Purify  the  fountain, 
and  the  issuing  streams  wrill  be  pure ;  suffer  that  to  be- 
come stagnant  and  corrupt,  and  its  issues  will  bear  on 
their  current  pestilence  and  death. 

It  is  the  duty,  as  well  as  the  interest  of  Massachu- 
setts, as  a  prominent  member  of  this  great  confederacy 
of  States,  to  do  all  she  can  to  advance  the  common  weal. 
From  he  rlimited  extent,  and  the  uncongenial  character  of 
her  soil  and  climate,  she  can  never  expect  to  compete 
with  many  of  her  sister  States  in  the  amount  of  produc- 
tion, or  weight  of  popular  influence.  She  can  never  ex- 
port her  millions  of  bushels  of  grain,  or  her  thousand 
bales  of  cotton,  or  make  her  voice  heard,  by  a  numerous 
representation,  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.     Her  situa- 


16  AMHERST  COLLEGE.  Jan 

tion  forbids  this.  But,  while  "ice  and  granite0  consti- 
tute her  native  exports,  she  may  exert  a  commanding 
influence  on  the  destinies  of  the  Union,  by  the  exporta- 
tion of  men.  This  is  a  product,  in  which,  she  has 
ever  excelled.  She  may  raise  up  and  qualify  her  thou- 
sand sons,  to  lay  broad  and  deep,  the  foundations  of  the 
rising  states  in  the  wrest,  and  south-west.  She  may  send 
off  her  young  men  of  talent,  and  learning,  and  enter- 
prize,  bearing  with  them  our  institutions,  habits,  customs, 
and  religion,  and  thus  exert  an  influence  on  the  destinies 
of  our  common  country,  superior  to  millions  of  an  uned- 
ucated and  untamed  population.  And  will  not  a  patriot- 
ic Legislature,  mindful  of  the  solemn  obligations  of  the 
constitution,  and  the  example  of  our  fathers,  and  the 
highest  interests  of  our  country,  contribute  to  this  result, 
by  a  further  endowment  of  our  colleges  ?  Such  is  the 
state  of  the  Commonwealth's  treasury  and  such  our  an- 
nual revenue,  that  a  liberal  grant  can  be  attended  with 
little  or  no  financial  embarrassment,  while  the  good,  it 
may  produce  is  incalculable. 

From  a  full  consideration  of  the  circumstances  of  this 
case,  your  Committee  are  clearly  of  opinion,  that  Am- 
herst College  deserves  and  has  richly  earned,  a  share  of 
the  public  funds,  and  we,  therefore,  unanimously  recom- 
mend the  passage  of  the  accompanying  Resolve. 

Per  order, 

M.  LAWRENCE,  Chairman. 


<£ommotttoeattt)  of  jmassacljusetts* 


In  the  year  of  our  Lord  One  Thousand  Eight  Hundred 
and  Thirty-Seven. 


RESOLVE 

On  the  Petition  of  the  Trustees  of  Amherst  College, 

Resolved,  For  reasons  set  forth  in  the  petition  of  the 
Trustees  of  Amherst  College,  for  pecuniary  aid,  that 
there  be  allowed  and  paid  out  of  the  Treasury  of  this 
Commonwealth,  to  the  Treasurer  of  said  College  for  the 
time  being,  for  the  use  of  said  College,  the  sum  of  two 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  on  the  first  day  of  May, 
and  on  the  first  day  of  November,  in  each  year,  for  ten 
successive  years,  the  first  payment  of  two  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars,  to  be  made  on  the  first  day  of  May  next. 
And  his  Excellency,  the  Governor  is  hereby  authorized 
and  requested  to  draw  his  warrant  accordingly. 


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